The present invention deals with medical appliances and, in particular an appliance useful for the examination and detection of skin lesions.
Skin lesions (abnormal areas of the skin) are caused by different types of pathology. For example, skin lesions can be in the form of small areas of hemmorrhage, collections of small blood vessels forming a skin tumor, deposition of varying types and amounts of pigment, scales, ulcerated conditions, and inflammatory reactions with the dilatation of blood vessels. There may be varying levels of elevation of the lesion above the natural level of skin.
At present, the time honored procedure for analyzing or examining the above lesions is for the physician to apply finger pressure on the lesion and then remove the pressure suddenly to see if the area changes character. It is often found that the change in character associated with many lesions can be so rapid and subtle so as to make detection difficult.
I have therefore, developed an instrument which can be placed directly on the lesion with pressure and the changes seen as they occur without having to remove the instrument. The instrument further makes the changes more readily visible and allows the physician to measure the size of the lesion.